Day three: afternoon

First section:

While I read, you will do the prostrations. We all visualize the 35 Buddhas in front of ourselves. When you have memorized the verse, then you will be able to say it faster.
You keep reciting while you do the prostrations.
(Prostrations)

Second section:

Sit down, or kneel down – whatever you like, or whatever is comfortable to you.
The second section is the confession, for purification.

(Speaking the confession part)

The last line means: "I will not deliberately commit all these bad karmas again."

You will get copies of these instructions including the list of the bad karmas, like killing your father, killing your mother, killing an Arhat or other beings.

Third section:

(A). The dedication prayer.

(Speaking the dedication part)

(B). Wishes

Recite the confession prayer three times. Recite the dedication prayer also three times. Then, the lines after that are wishes for all sentient beings from the Seven-branch prayer. This you recite only once.

If your time is limited, then recite the prostrations a few times and then the confession and the dedication prayer once.

If you have time for many prostrations, then you keep on calling the names of the 35 Buddhas and make as many prostrations as you’d like. Then you do the confession, and the dedication once, or three times each.

(Q): Can I also do this practice besides the practice I do right now?

(A): Yes you can. Here, it is best if you go systematically starting from Shi’nay until you reach the most profound practice. Shi’nay is the concentration practice on the breath as I’ve described. Those of you who have no knowledge of Shi’nay and whose minds are very busy should start with this practice. If you have already done a lot of Shi’nay, and you are used to it, then of course, you wouldn’t.

But if your mind is still not calm, it means that you have not effectively implemented the various methods, which you have learned and practiced. This is why I showed you how to start with Shi’nay. To concentrate on breathing by counting is very important.

Once you are well used to the counting, then you won’t count any more. But your mind should still be trained to follow the breath that you visualize. And once you are used to following the breath without counting, then you don’t follow it anymore. You would simply keep your mind on the breath.

You need Shi’nay to pacify your mind. The 35 Buddhas practice is for purification. You should concentrate on the 35 Buddhas practice in lieu of Dzog Shing (the field of accumulation/refuge tree we focus on when we do the prostrations in the Ngöndro). I suggest that everyone now concentrate and prostrate to the 35 Buddhas. This is a very powerful practice. It was Marpa’s prostration practice. Dzog Shing is good, but I think the 35 Buddhas practice is better for you.

If you are doing the Six Yogas of Naropa practice, and you are doing Guru Yoga, then Dzog Shing is fine within those practices. This is Mahamudra practice, so our prostration practice as well as our Mandala offerings should be directed towards the 35 Buddhas.

You can memorize the text of the 35 Buddhas. The blessing contained therein is very, very powerful. It is much better than the practice Dzog Shing, because we are in the Kali Yuga, meaning many things can happen. Therefore, the 35 Buddha practice is a very secure method within a systematic program for Mahamudra, which I have organized for you.

During the times of Marpa, Milarepa, Gampopa, the first Karmapa, Düsum Khyenpa and the second Karmapa, Karma Pakshi, when practitioners were doing the Guru Yoga practice, their gurus were the great Siddhas as I have just named, like Gampopa. There was nothing wrong with these masters. With respect to Düsum Khyenpa and Karma Pakshi, they were perfect –almost like Buddhas. The practices that focused on such highly enlightened teachers were convenient to follow and they were very effective. But nowadays, you are wondering what to do? There is no security in following the teachers anymore.

For instance, a student might think like this. "I took initiation from my teacher, but now I’ve heard something bad about him, so what should I do?" There is doubt. Where is the truth? There are no teachers like Gampopa and Düsum Khyenpa anymore. The followers don’t feel safe, and they are confused. It is happening.

In those days of Gampopa, Düsum Khyenpa, or Karma Pakshi, to hear anything bad about such a master was impossible. What bad things have you ever heard about Karma Pakshi? But nowadays, lots of things are happening.

For example, suppose a certain teacher gives an initiation here, and in keeping with the instructions during Gampopa’s time, he tells you to think of him above your head. And suppose, you agree and do as you are told. Then, something happens to him. You will feel very confused, and you will not know what to do. It is not safe to just follow any teacher. I have come across many teachers, and many disciples who have come up against these kinds of things. Therefore, the thing to do is to put all the teachers into the Bodhisattva group. There can be no problems with that. The teachers give you explanations and instructions about the Dharma. On your side, you should maintain a good attitude towards them. But don’t prostrate to them.

For Mahamudra, the prostration practice is to the 35 Buddhas. Stick to that – it is secure. When you do prostrations to the 35 Buddhas, you will not have any problems and you will only get merit. For sure, you will not see the 35 Buddhas doing something funny later on. After you have finished the prostrations, then you will do the Mandala practice.

You should follow a systematic program in order to achieve quickly the results. You should not do so many different practices. When you don’t do any Dharma practice, you are totally detached, or separated from the path of enlightenment. This means you are not on the Path. You are completely out of it. On the other hand, if you are on the Path, but you are always looking for other paths, or trying out everything, then you will never make progress. You are not going straight, but zig-zag. Don’t go "Dharma shopping."

(Q): I am doing Ngöndro right now. Should I finish it, or should I switch?

(A): If you finish the Four-Foundation practice and then start the Six Yogas of Naropa, then that would be all right. Start this program after you finish the Ngöndro is also fine. There is no difference. I am just making a program that is secure. Everybody is talking about lineage nowadays. And it is very confusing. You are reading books, here and there, thinking about the lineages. In the end, you will be totally confused. After all, we are in the time of the Kali Yuga. So, I have made a practice system that is safe and secure.

(Q): For the Shi’nay meditation, is it also possible to visualize something different than explained while concentrating on the breath? For example, can one focus on the movement of the stomach, or some other Shi’nay meditation?

(A): No, don’t do it like that. What I taught is very important. It is what you should do. The disciples of the Buddha have done exactly this practice. They were all successful and so the method is reliable. Many inventions cropped up afterwards, but they are not so reliable. Shariputra and the other disciples of the Buddha all started with this practice. With regards to the other inventions, what proof is there that they work? The people who invented their own ways are not Buddhas. An invention is just one person’s idea. I could create a wave and call it the way to enlightenment but then I would have no proof to give you that it works. For enlightenment, all teachings should come from the Buddha, only then is it reliable.

(Q): What to do when you have back problems and you can only do the prostrations very slowly.

(A): That’s fine. One prostration with back pain is equal to 1,000 prostrations by a healthy person with respect to merit. You can also visualize yourself doing the prostrations together with the many sentient beings. There is no difference in the merit accumulation. But where health is concerned, then there is a difference – the back pain may disrupt the benefit of the physical exercise.

(Q): And when are they finished? After how many times? Is there a number?

(A): 100,000 times.

(Q): Is it alright to do Ngöndro and Shi’nay at the same time, for example, one in the morning, one in the evening?

(A): Sure, you can do that. For Dharma practice, there isn’t any special time. Dharma is merit. Merit needs to be accumulated by mind. There is no specified time for practice. You should do it whenever it is convenient to you.

You need to practice the method of Shi’nay, because your mind is not in Shi’nay. And when your mind is not in Shi’nay, you cannot do Mahamudra meditation. There are just too many thoughts. You cannot meditate when you are thinking a lot.

All Dharma practices will result in a good rebirth because of the merit one accumulates in doing them. Receiving the many Dharma teachings, and doing the many positive things are always good for merit accumulation. They are good for the next life, for your future lives. But those activities will not make you successful in meditation within one lifetime. By doing ten different practices a day, you will not succeed in any one of them, but you will have merits.

(Q): If one has already finished the Ngöndro, and is doing a yidam meditation, should one go back to do another preparation?

(A): That depends on the result. In Austria, some people, though not many, did the 35 Buddhas practice. They did it exclusively and got the signs exactly as mentioned in the sutra. The results came so quickly – through all the blessings. Everything is fresh. In other words, these practitioners have pure attitudes. They do not hold any wrong thoughts, or views about the Buddhas.

I know someone who gave up on his teacher of many years. What could he do now? He had done 100.000 prostrations, and 100.000 Mandala offerings to his teacher. This is what I meant by, ‘there is no security’. In this time of Kali Yuga, you see many things. That person lost his trust in his teacher because he saw something. I don’t know what it was. He had already finished 400.000 times the practice of thinking his teacher as Buddha Vajradhara. Just think, what kind of problems would that person have now had he practiced the 35 Buddhas? He would not have any problems. He would not have a fight with the 35 Buddhas.

I meet sometimes with a group of students whose teacher had passed away. So I do know them through my own experience. They are doing very well because their teacher had taught them to have respect for the spiritual teacher. To most people, to have respect for a teacher who has given you the instructions for the path to enlightenment, is easy. It is totally reasonable.

This particular teacher had always emphasized to his students to think that Milarepa was Vajradhara in the Ngöndro. People never have any trouble with Milarepa. So to this day, his students are still very respectful and grateful to him for his proper guidance. They don’t have any problems with their dharma practice regardless of what might have happened to their teacher. Day and night, they practice Guru Yoga with Milarepa as Buddha Vajradhara. What problem could possibly arise from that? Milarepa would not create any problems for them.

(Q): When I am already concentrating on one Buddha, then if I were to jump back to the 35 Buddhas, isn’t that more like jumping left and right, instead of going one way straight?

(A): You should not make any differentiations between the Buddhas and Bodhisattvas. You should not put them into the different categories like we do with the many species of animals. You should also not divide the Buddhas into parties or groups as we humans do with different social, political, and cultural groups.

You should not think Buddha Vajradhara different from the other Buddhas. The Buddhas don’t belong to any party. They are not divided into groups. They are all aspects of Buddha wisdom and enlightenment. The 35 Buddhas and Vajradhara are of the same nature. The Buddhas are not your personal friends, nor are they fellow human beings who may like you, or not like you. Do you think the 35 Buddhas and your teacher are the same, or not? If you do, you will be confused. They are not the same.

(Q): What about Chenrezig?

(A): Chenrezig has the same nature as the Buddhas. When you concentrate on the 35 Buddhas, Chenrezig is included.

The 35 Buddhas practice includes everything – all the Buddhas and Bodhisattvas. This means they also include the 1,000 Buddhas. The 35 Buddhas will not push the 1,000 Buddhas away. This is the reason why the 35 Buddhas practice is organized as it is. When you do prostrations to the 35 Buddhas, you will receive the blessings from 1,000 Buddhas, even from a million Buddhas. You will receive the blessings of countless Buddhas, from all the Buddhas, when you do the 35 Buddhas practice.

How humans conceptualize and group things cannot be applied to Dharma practice. For instance, you might think that one Buddha doesn’t belong here, but there. This is ‘group-mind’, or ‘party-mind’.

An example of a group-mind is when you think that there is a group of holy people here. You decide to stick to them – that is being group-minded. When something is changed in the group, then you will have difficulty shifting to another group. It’ll make you feel uncomfortable.

When you are leader-minded, you are pegging someone to be your leader. Later, when you are then asked instead to pray to ten Buddhas, you have a problem. In your mind, your leader has changed to ten, when you’ve been used to having only one. This is how an ordinary, or worldly mind works. This is how you think now.

There is also a nationalistic-mind. "My country is the best." All these conceptualistic minds should be dropped when it comes to the Dharma. Dharma practice does not require a party-mind, a leader-mind, or a nationalistic mind.

The Buddha taught the 35 Buddhas practice with all three sections of practice. It is from the Sutra of the Buddha. It was taught by the Buddha to sentient beings for them to become enlightened. And we are the ones who want to be enlightened, aren’t we? We have chosen the Buddha’s teachings as opposed to those of Jesus, Mohammed, or Krishna. The three sections of practices to the 35 Buddhas, which have now been presented to you, are very effective in helping you to attain enlightenment. This is the reason why the Buddha taught them. The lineage of this practice has been passed down to us unbroken, and it is a practice within the Mahamudra lineage.

You should do the practice. When you do, try not to apply the party-mind of worldly thinking. This means you should not think that you ‘belong’ to Kagyüpa, Nyingmapa, Sakyapa, or Gelugpa..., etc. Don’t bring the group-mind into it. You are here now for enlightenment, that is your focus. You want to purify your bad karma so you use an effective way to achieve the desired result. The Dharma is not a competition for market share between companies like Suzuki versus Toyota. That kind of mentality is not needed here. Rather, your only concern is to be cured of your sickness, which is your only objective. Here, your sickness encompasses samsara, bad karma, negative emotions, and ignorance. They are your problems, so you want to apply the right methods to be rid of them.

You should not discriminate among the Buddhas. You should not be like the followers of Sarasvati (goddess of wisdom). They refuse to pray to Norjuma, or Lakshmi (goddess of wealth). Why? It is because both Sarasvati and Lakshmi have the same husband. Both devis are married to one god, the king of Desa, which is a kind of Asura realm. Followers of this religion believe that by praying to Lakshmi, Sarasvati would kill them out of jealousy. For the same reason, those who follow Lakshmi also do not follow Sarasvati. But Buddhism is for enlightenment, so you will have no problems with the Buddhas. There are no problems between them. So, there is no need to worry about ‘shifting’.

The approach to the Dharma for enlightenment should be: first, engender Bodhicitta towards all sentient beings. Second, focus on enlightenment by knowing the method-practices, and the wisdom-practices. A method-practice is for the accumulation of merit. And a wisdom-practice aims for enlightenment that comes from your own mind.

The worldly mind should never be applied to the path of enlightenment. Worldly mind means self-clinging, or ego, which entails a lot of discrimination in the mind. If you apply it to Dharma practice, you will never achieve a good result. Everybody should be clear about this point. Forget the worldly mind when you are on the path of Dharma.

Now we do a short meditation.